zdl_cryptofandomcom-20200214-history
Steemit (STEEM)
Basics * Steemit is a social news service which combines a blogging site/social networking website and a cryptocurrency * Got flack for banning someone from their website From a Bitcoin.com post (4-8-2019) about decentralised social media: * "Coming on scene as a pioneer in July 2016, Ned Scott and blockchain developer Dan Larimer’s Steemit boasted to be a first of its kind blockchain-based social media platform, allowing users to earn rewards via Steem for posting, curating, and commenting. Many users compared the site’s style to a kind of “crypto Reddit.” Larimer, the creator of the Bitshares DEX, DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake Algorithm), and the current CTO of Block.one (EOS developer), built the site with co-founder Scott on the Steem blockchain, a Graphene-based, DPoS chain. While the site enjoyed initial, highly sensational success — with one well-known and controversial libertarian podcaster raking in $15,000 for a short “introduce yourself” post — user interest has since flagged significantly. A series of seismic management and corporate structuring shifts (including Larimer leaving the project in 2017), coupled with the crypto winter of last year, saw many loyal users searching out greener pastures. One thing that Steemit did help establish, however, was the potential of blockchain technology to provide relative censorship resistance and successfully reward users for engagement. Neither the platform nor other users could deplatform anyone by reporting or flagging a post (a huge problem currently for many giants in the field like Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube). And when the first payouts came in the summer of 2016, a massive wave of excitement ensued. However, troubles with spambots and abuse of voting power would prove to be significant challenges down the road." Token * It is possible to buy "influence" which creates a small value-proposition. Steem Dollars (SBD) * Date of trading launch: 18-7-2016 * Not Mineable Steem * Date of trading launch: 18-4-2016 * Coincap: 240,320,890 STEEM Tech * Proof of Work had a shady beginning. * Inflationary supply model, every year the monetary base doubles, but all three-and-a-half years the Steem reward per block is lowered at a rate of 1:10 * 'Hardfork 21' (announced on 6-2019) introduced a bunch of new ways how content and curating will be rewarded. The funding mechanism of the SteemitDAO was also included. Some users were very upset about the new system of rewards and blamed the Witnesses that voted the hardfork in for voting for their own good and accused them of forming a cartel. Steemit.com itself praised the Witnesses for acting 'rationally and responsibly'. * After Hardfork 21 was finalised, a bug made Steemit do Hardfork 22 very soon thereafter. (8-2019) Hivemind * Technology by Steemit (5-2019): "Hivemind, software that not only dramatically reduces the cost of running a blockchain node, but which also unlocks a universe of possibilities for social apps. Hivemind has the potential to offer the strengths of so-called “Smart Contracts” with almost none of the downsides. Hivemind will enable us to create Communities on Steem (among many other features), which is why it will play a critical role in the future of steemit.com, and the Steem ecosystem as a whole." * From an Steemit blog interview (10-2019) "The reason why we’re referring to it as “Hive Communities” is because we are talking about a feature set that is built using a piece of software you developed called “Hivemind.” Could you explain why it was necessary to build Hivemind before building Communities? @roadscape: In layman’s terms, Hivemind provides a framework which is easier to develop and faster to iterate on; it bridges the gap between frontend and backend. Hivemind basically just stores posts in a traditional database, is written in Python, and allows you to process arbitrary events. Although Communities could have been written as a steemd plugin (in C++), leveraging standard web technologies makes development more flexible and accessible. @andrarchy: Hivemind isn’t just limited to Communities-related features. From the sound of it, Hivemind can support a seemingly infinite number of feature sets. It almost turns Steem into a smart contracts platform, except without a lot of the downsides. Is that right? @roadscape: Yes, Hivemind can do an infinite number of things. However, it’s important to keep in mind that Hivemind is geared toward social applications. Certain trade-offs were made that are important for developers to understand. For instance, hivemind trades consistency for speed and simplicity. To be as consistent as the blockchain itself would essentially require you to re-implement steemd in Python. Currently it is not equipped to robustly handle forks, thus, it is not ideal for wallets or financial transactions. For instance, to avoid inconsistencies due to forks, you could follow the last irreversible block, but then the data would all be a minute old. Alternatively, you could implement an undo database, though this would decrease capacity and make the system more complex." Smart Media Tokens and ICO's * From their news letter (23-10-2019): "Live on TestNet, MainNet launch early 2020. SMTs are digital assets on the Steem blockchain that can be launched by anyone to help monetize online content and create incentives to encourage desired user behavior. Unlike Ethereum's ERC-20 tokens, SMTs have built-in ‘Proof-of-Brain’ properties and a token distribution reward system designed specifically for digital content businesses. This will also make ICO’s possible." * Read the white paper here. SteemDAO * From their own blog post (6-2019): "The Steem DAO was a concept proposed by @blocktrades to allow Steem users to publicly propose work they are willing to do in exchange for pay. Steem users can then vote on these proposals in almost the same way they vote for witnesses It uses stake-weighted votes, but voters can vote for as many proposals as they want. Steemit paid $50k USD to @blocktrades for the development of the SteemDAO. Once approved, and after enough time has transpired so as to demonstrate the security and stability of the system (about 1-2 weeks of operation), Steemit will provide initial, one-time funding, by converting 200k STEEM to SBD which will allow the market to test this new feature. Long-Term SteemDAO Funding At the request of the Witnesses, we have included code in this release that would add a long term funding mechanism for the SteemDAO/SPS. If this hardfork is accepted by the Witnesses, 10% of overall inflation (pulled from the rewards pool) would be used to fund proposals made through the SteemDAO/SPS." * Update: SteemDAO has been 'purchased' by Steemit from Blocktrades (1-10-2019). Community * Community members have started naming users with different influence powers aka holders of Steem Power. Due to the common terminology of 'Whales' aka big owners of tokens, Steemit now has a plethora of different sea life. As one user described (8-2019) it: "Redfish are those with under 500 sp. You get to be a minnow at 500-5000. Dolphin is at 5000-50000 sp. After that Orca to 500,000 sp and then whales above that." Lay offs and aftermath * Had to lay off 70% of it's staff at the end of 2018. * From their own blog post (5-2019): "By releasing two state-of-the-art pieces of software (Hivemind and MIRA), reducing operating costs, improving the efficiency of our AWS infrastructure, and beginning our paid advertising program, we are now hitting our cost reduction and revenue projections. We have picked the majority of “low hanging fruit” with respect to cost reductions and restored the organization to a financially sustainable condition with a worst-case scenario operational runway that is more than sufficient to begin scoping future enhancements to the Steem blockchain and steemit.com." Team, etc. * Larimer, Daniel; CTO & co-founder (also co-founder of BitShares), left the project to start EOS in june 2017. * Powell, Elizabeth; Formerly the company’s head of communications and advocacy, now CEO (1-2019). "Powell is a relative newcomer to Steemit, having only joined the company last year. In response to her appointment, some users raised concern at her relative inexperience on the site." * Scott, Ned; former CEO & co-founder (got replaced by Elizabeth Powell (1-2019) now executive chairman * Nerayoff, Steven; advisor * After laying off (11-2018) 70% of it's staff it now (1-2019) has 12 full-time staff. * Michael @vandeberg; "has been with Steemit since before its inception and oversees all blockchain development as Senior Blockchain Engineer. Michael has had a massive influence over the direction that Steem has taken and with the benefit of hindsight we have all seen the wisdom behind the difficult choices he insisted be made, and the folly of ignoring his warnings. His insistence on pursuing the utilization of RocksDB to migrate Steem to commodity-hardware well over a year ago is just one example of his foresight." * @roadscape; "Senior Product Engineer, was one of the earliest additions to the Steemit team. He was also the developer behind steemd.com, the first user interface for accessing the information stored on the Steem blockchain. @roadscape went on to architect Hivemind, software that not only dramatically reduces the cost of running a blockchain node, but which also unlocks a universe of possibilities for social apps." Category:Coins/Tokens